Swans on Tea

Solving 3 Rubik’s Cubes…while juggling them.

More Apollo Robbins

… because I’d buy a B9 Lost in Space robot. Because it’s under $25,000!

via Bad Astronomy, (where there is a video, which I can’t seem to embed in the post. Due to Dr. Smith’s meddling, no doubt)

(3 quadrocopters = 12 rotors)

To toss the ball, the quadrocopters accelerate rapidly outward to stretch the net tight between them and launch the ball up. Notice in the video that the quadrocopters are then pulled forcefully inward by the tension in the elastic net, and must rapidly stabilize in order to avoid a collision. Once recovered, the quadrotors cooperatively position the net below the ball in order to catch it.

Because they are coupled to each other by the net, the quadrocopters experience complex forces that push the vehicles to the limits of their dynamic capabilities.

Canada’s New Quarters Will Have Glow-in-the-Dark Dinosaurs on Them

Each of the quarters, which will retail for $29.99, will feature an image of a Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai, a dinosaur discovered in Alberta. But take it into the closet under the stairs or wherever your favored glow-in-the-dark viewing site is, and the creature’s skeleton glows.

But hey, we have presidential dollars that you can buy for $2. And they’re invisible. You don’t see any in circulation, do you?

The disposal of drums of sodium into Lake Lenore, an alkaline lake in the Grand Coulee area of eastern Washington State, in 1947 by the War Assets Administration.

Wanna dispose of some sodium? Na.

[A]fter WWII, the US government found they had some extra sodium no one wanted, so they disposed of it.
In a lake. Full of water. And by the way, it was ten tons of pure sodium.

Safety and environmental impact disclaimer

Oh, and all that surplus WWII sodium? While that would destroy the ecology of a lake, in this case it was already a heavily alkaline lake with no fish in it. While I wouldn’t say this was a great thing to do, at least they thought to minimize the impact. But cripes: don’t try this at home.

Time lapse: Crater Lake

The part where you can see the night sky reflection off the lake is especially cool.

I think it’s unfortunate that the wackaloon celebrities get virtually all the airtime, so it’s refreshing for me to see an actor who can articulate a point and think on his feet. I’m sure (or at least hope) there are others out there, and we just don’t get to see them often enough.

His point about the “intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that” is spot-on. Just because some people do things for money doesn’t mean that’s what drives everyone.

LEGO + kinetic sculpture = AWESOME

Ultimate Pirate Ship Bedroom

The room is also decked out with a rope bridge that connects the pirate ship to the top of a jail cell, and a rope suspended from the ship’s hull provides drop-in access to the closet. There’s also a completely hidden spiral slide, that lets you travel downstairs in a more adventurous way.

OK, so it puts a bookcase door to shame, but it’s professionally designed and built and probably cost beaucoup bucks.

T-rex bed